It All Started With A Flash
by ChrissyWheeler
Summary: Tom Riddle is sent back to his Father's and on the way back from the drama, stops in the park. Bad Mistake. Poor Jessica is lured into a life of tragedy. Warning: Child Torture and imprisonment.
1. Remembrance

**Hey Readers!  
**

**So I stayed home from school today, and I had a really REALLY good Idea for a Tom Riddle Piece. Well, at least I think it's a good idea.If this reminds you of something that you've already seen somewhere else, please let me know and I'll take it down or change it as soon as possible! Sooo! Review review review :D**

**This story, does have Child torture and killing in it. It will get worse as the time goes on.. Sooo... If you don't want to read about that kind of stuff, this story isn't for you.**

**Both people in this book, are relatively young. Okay, understatement major. Tom, is only.. Seven when he kills his Father, and Jessica's Mother. Jessica is four. And then when she's not in a flashback, she's six. That's explained in the story but I'd like to clear that up now.**

**Also, I will be continuing my other story, but.. I grow bored with things quite easily, so updates on that one may be quite slow. Sorries. I'll try soon, but.. No promises.  
**

**Chrissy**

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**Disclaimer:** I am not J.K. Rowling, and therefore I do not own the Harry Potter series.. Although if I did, we'd probably be still on the first book! I'm horrible with finishing books! Haha. I'm not making money off of this. (Damn. xD)

**Edit: **Hahaha.. Well, whilst writing the second chapter of this piece, I accidentally forgot her age.. And kind of made her a year older in each of the memories/present scenes! Sooo... I went back and made her, Five not Four in the Memories, and Seven when she's not in any of the flashbacks. -.-; My bad. Tom's age, hasn't changed though! He's still ten when not in the flashbacks, and Seven when he is. I'm not going to remove that authors note, just incase I accidently forget to change one of the ages somewhere in the piece, someone can yell at me for it! Thanks! And sorry for the long edit thing. :D

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And with this, I'd like to introduce to you:

**Chapter one of, It all Started With A Flash: **

**Remembrance  
**

Her eyes cracked open, and she blinked three times, temporarily blinded by the blazing sunlight shining in from the one window in her cell. Slowly, the girl sat up her body wracking with blinding pain ending the attempt as soon as it started, causing her to roll over onto her back. Wincing nonstop as she did so.

Her capturer's face grinned at her feeble attempts, tapping his wand against his thigh soundlessly. She wouldn't know he was there, not yet at least.

She grimaced, biting her lower lip, trying to force herself to sit up. Try to remember what happened.. just try. Almost at once, she was greeted with an unwelcome flash black.

"_Come on Mummy, let's go play!" A little girl about the age of five managed to squeak between giggles. Her light brown hair, fell out of her pigtails at the side of her face, and obstructed her crystal blue eyes from seeing everything clearly, causing her to trip over her two feet. The girl giggled harder, heaving herself up to a sitting position and looking at her Mom once again. "Muuuuuuuummmmy!" She giggled once again, putting her hands on the ground and pushing herself up. "Muuuummy! I wants-ta pllaayyyy" she jumped up and down. What was left of her pig-tails jumped up and down with her, tickling her face. _

_Her Mother, was sitting on a blanket, with a basket to the right side with food almost jumping out of it. They had planned this picnic for awhile, and she was going to make this work for her. Her daughter deserved this day of play._

"_Muuuum!" the girl moaned out, looking over at her again, and her Mother stood up._

"_Alright, alright, Jessica. I'm coming, now." She said, her voice sweet, soft, she remembered. Almost like honey..._

She flashed back into reality. The girl didn't want to remember the rest, what came next... but her mind, didn't listen and poofed back into the memory, almost as if she weren't controlling her mind anymore...

_Jessica giggled with delight, grabbing a hold of her Mother's hand and leading her to the swing set on the play ground. A boy was swinging on the swings already. He looked a few years older then Jessica, did, and he looked playful enough. The five year old Jessica, ran over to the guy, and smiled sweetly._

"_Hiya! I'm Jessi-ca!" She said, giggling at her own rhyme. The boy raised his eyebrows and shrugged responding with a simple_

"_Hello," And continued to swing. Jessica didn't want to give up, she was a stubborn child by nature.._

"_What's your name?" She asked, bouncing on her heels, and her Mother looked to the boy apologetically, _

"_I'm sorry, she doesn't know when to stop. Come along Jessica, hun." The boy's eyes sparkled lightly hearing her voice._

"_It's quite alright, Miss. I'm Tom." He smiled lightly, holding out his hand to Jessica, who didn't know anything about shaking hands, so she grabbed his hand and let go of her Mother's pulling Tom off the swing._

The girl on the floor shuddered in pain, her hand curled into a fist as if she were going to punch Tom, for ever touching the girl. For ever... Her body convulsed with pain again before she could finish the thought, causing her to let out a scream. The pain was so.. Familiar. She knew it was the cruciatius curse, somewhere in the back of her mind, and she understood at once. She really _wasn't_ in control of her mind anymore.. Someone was controlling her thoughts.

She was thrown back into the memory before another thought could cross her mind.

_Her Mother smiled watching the two, Jessica led Tom to the sand pit and started to show him how to make a moat. The toddler was so engrossed with her own explanation she didn't even look up once to see if Tom was paying attention._

_Tom quickly took advantage of this, and made his way back to Jessica's Mother, silently. As to not alert the child of his actions._

_He smiled politely when he walked back to her, "Your Jessica sure talks a lot." and she laughed smiling apologetically once more,  
_

"_Yes, I'm sorry about that Tom. As I said before, she doesn't know when to stop." Tom nodded in response, and plunged his hand in his pocket, and kept it there, his hand fingering something that stuck out of his pocket a little bit. To Jessica's mother, it looked like a stick, so she payed no attention to it._

"_So, where do you live, Tom? I haven't seen you around these parts too often." She continued the conversation, glancing over to Jessica who had figured out that her 'student' was no longer there, but decided that she didn't care. She was still going to build a big castle for her Mommy. She couldn't wait to see the look on her face, giggling she set to work. _

_Tom followed her line of vision, smirking lightly to himself but quickly changed his face when he looked back to her Mother. "I don't live around here, I'm visiting my Father." A spark of, well, something, appeared on the child's face. Again, she payed no attention to the small action._

"_That's nice, I hope he's doing well." She paused, looking over to Tom who shrugged lightly._

"_It honestly, depends on your definition of 'well,'" his face lit up with a look that could only be described in one way. Evil. This time, try as she might, Jessica's Mother couldn't hide her curiosity._

"_What do you mean Tom, is something wrong? I could possibly help if you allowed me too, I am a heal-- Nurse." Tom's eye brows raised quite a bit and he contemplated how to answer. He already shared too much with the lady. Much, too much for his liking..._

"_Mm.. Thankyou Ma'am, that's awful nice of you and all.. But I think my Father," The word rolled off his tongue this time as if it was a horrid word. One that should never be spoken in front of a lady, and yet he did. So, in order to show respect, he inclined his head slightly, hoping that she didn't realize _why_ he did the notion. Well, she wouldn't anyways, not without being able to understand his thoughts. He paused and repeated carefully, "I think my Father, is well beyond your promising capabilities at the moment." _

_This time, the woman stood up, looking towards him carefully. "What.. What ever do you mean, Tom? __Are you okay? Explain... Please.."_

The girl willed herself to stop seeing the memories. They pained her so much to see the reenactment of only two years ago. Two painful years... Why wouldn't they stop.. She'd much rather have the physical pain.. Emotional pain never went away. But the visions pressed on, the person controlling her thought process, was a being much stronger then her. She was only seven, after all.

_Tom furrowed his brows, and shook his head in a slow fashion. And when he spoke, his voice came out softly, but rather harsh for his age. His voice coated with warning towards the woman. He honestly didn't want to hurt her. He saw no reason for it.. "I'd rather not, Miss. Bentley." _

_At this, Jessica's Mom froze. Her hand went directly to her thigh staring at the young man, nervously. "Tom, How did you know my last name?" For the first time, in his life, Tom felt kind of nervous. So he pulled the 'stick' out of his pocket, and laid it across his lap, setting his hands on top of it. _

"_Miss. Bentley.." He began, and then took a deep breath. "I would like to completely apologize for what is about to happen." his eyes went emotionless, and cold. Deep black voids of death were all that bore into the eyes of Miss. Bentley. He raised his wand, and said the words "Avada Kedavra." A green streak flew threw the air, and Miss Bentley was dead before she even could comprehend what he was apologizing for._

A huge sob broke Jessica out of the visions this time. She refused to go back to them, blocking out her mind of everything and wishing she'd just pass out from the pain. She wished for that black sea of emptiness to drown her. Drown her and never let her back up. Two years of this, suffering.. of this mourning, was enough for her. Too much for her to handle. When was it ever going to end?

"Never, Jessi." An all too familiar voice rang out from the shadows leaving Jessica to whimper softly. "Aw.. Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you... Anymore." He grinned, stepping into the dim light tapping his wand against the bar of the cell she was in.

Jessica's face blanched, as she stared at Tom. The all-too-familiar face, smirked back at her. She could tell he loved to be in control of situations, and this obviously was his cup of tea. "Tom.. let me go.. I won't tell anythin'.. Please..." she whispered the last part, shaking with nervousness and pain. The left over from the spell and the memories washed over her like tsunamis, but before she was able to get to the comfort of blackness... They'd retreat. Leaving her in the horrid reality. Another whimper slipped through her lips. "Please," she managed to whimper out again but her voice broke.

Tom's eyes became the emotionless pools of nothing, that bore into her Mother's eyes two years ago. He turned the look on Jessica, causing her to flinch and turn away. Tom shrugged and flicked his wand, the door of the cage opening for a moment long enough for him to slip in with Jessica.

"Do you remember what happened after your Mum's..." He paused thinking for the correct word to use, and another smirk that didn't quite reach his eyes spread over his face, "accident?" he finished, pointing his wand straight at her head. The effect was instant, and they both pummeled in to another wave of her memories.


	2. Friendship

**Hey Readers!**

**Woo. Yeah, I'm updating soon for this chapter. I'm sorry. Utterly addicted to this fic at the moment, and it won't poof out of my head! Quite honestly, I think I bombarded about ten people on MSN to read my fiction, and most of them don't even like Harry Potter Gasp! If that's even POSSIBLE to do. Shifty eyes So... Time for the Disclaimer message and then, the story! Dun duunn duuunnn... .!!**

**Chrissy**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Harry Potter series, Merely borrowing it. Probably not going to give it back, so... I stole it :D Mine! He he.. I'm not making money off of it either.

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Without further to do, Here's Chapter Two of It All Started with a Flash,

"_Never, Jessi." An all too familiar voice rang out from the shadows leaving Jessica to whimper softly. "Aw.. Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you... Anymore." He grinned, stepping into the dim light tapping his wand against the bar of the cell she was in._

_Jessica's face blanched, as she stared at Tom. The all-too-familiar face, smirked back at her. She could tell he loved to be in control of situations, and this obviously was his cup of tea. "Tom.. let me go.. I won't tell anythin'.. Please..." she whispered the last part, shaking with nervousness and pain. The left over from the spell and the memories washed over her like tsunamis, but before she was able to get to the comfort of blackness... They'd retreat. Leaving her in the horrid reality. Another whimper slipped through her lips. "Please," she managed to whimper out again but her voice broke._

_Tom's eyes became the emotionless pools of nothing, that bore into her Mother's eyes two years ago. He turned the look on Jessica, causing her to flinch and turn away. Tom shrugged and flicked his wand, the door of the cage opening for a moment long enough for him to slip in with Jessica._

"_Do you remember what happened after your Mum's..." He paused thinking for the correct word to use, and another smirk that didn't quite reach his eyes spread over his face, "accident?" he finished, pointing his wand straight at her head. The effect was instant, and they both pummeled in to another wave of her memories._

**Friendship..**

_Jessica, in this memory, was now five years old, and the year without her mother had definitely taken its toll on her. Her sparkling bright eyes, never held the sparkle in them any more, and the one person in the whole orphanage, that would talk to her was the one person who she believed killed her mother. He was the one that was talking to her last, even if she couldn't prove that he had done it._

_Tom still was quiet, unless he was around his Jessica. Yes, his Jessica. They had grown to be 'friends,' ever since he was transferred into this orphanage and she was.. well.. brought there. She, in the beginning, hadn't talked.. At all. Not even to her caretakers. She was still terrorstruck by her mother not being there anymore. Not being there to hold her hand and tell her that everything was going to be okay.. Not even getting to see her Sand Castle that she had built for her that day. Jessica, in the memory, was asleep. It was rare, that she ever slept on her own will, so they either had given her some sort of a medication to shut her up, or she had passed out yet again from lack of sleep. Either way, no one honestly gave a care._

_Although she was sleeping, she didn't look like she was peaceful. Her bedsheets were coming off of the mattress in every direction, and her hair wasn't in its usual neat placement on the top of her head. Instead, it was in messy knots all over her pillow... Or what was left of it. In her sleep she had torn the pillow to near-shreds. _

_Tom strolled into view through the door located to the far right of her bed, his hand in his pocket as he walked as it often was. Probably holding onto his wand, he never left without it. In her sleep, Jessica whimpered causing Tom to look up slightly in alarm just to make sure that she wasn't going to wake up and yell at him again, as she so often did. He was used to it by now and quite honestly it was getting very, very old._

_He murmured something incoherently and rolled his eyes sitting himself on the floor directly after her bed. His back resting against the bed frame. _

Jessica whimpered aloud at the same time her memory self had done so. She hated these memories and Tom just needed to stop.. He.. Needed to trust her. He needed to understand that she would never tell on him, she was too scared of him to do so. She.. she just wanted to go back to the orphanage. Or, more so back to her Mother.

"You do know, Jessica, that that's just utterly impossible. I'm not about to _kill_ you.." Tom spoke, breaking her thoughts. His smirk fell off his face, leaving it to match his eyes. Emotionless. "Why would I do that, hm?" The young boy raised his wand yet again, as a small smile threatened against the corners of his mouth "You're my best friend."

_It was a few hours later in the memory, Jessica had woken up and was now sitting across from Tom silently. They were playing with blocks, well, Tom was at least. Jessica was just banging one absent-mindedly against another. _

"_Jessica." Tom broke the silence, dropping his block for a moment, looking up at her. Jessica raised her eyes towards him, and the nine year old took that as a sign to continue talking, "How would you like to make a castle?" He raised his eyebrows in question, and she flew to a standing position._

"_Tom Marvolo Riddle!" She screamed while kicking his block tower down, the blocks scattering everywhere, causing a few kids to look over at them. Their faces read of brand new interest, they were going to argue again! "Dun't you... don't you... ever.." she said relatively quieter this time, her voice shook with silent sobs that played against her sandpaper throat. "Just.. don't" she whined and picked up a block before throwing it down once again, and running out of the room. Tom sat in the same place that she had left him, grinning from ear to ear. He was the only child that looked satisfied with the performance though. The others clearly wanted to see a fight, so they all turned back to their blocks and in unison sighed._

_Tom's face still held the grin for awhile, it was a test. A test that she kept passing, he noted silently. Maybe, just maybe she wouldn't tell on him.. Maybe he could trust her. Rearranging his face to his normal unreadable look, he stood up and walked the same path that Jessica had, scanning the room for his Jessica. _

_Jessica had taken her refuge with the adults of the orphanage and for a moment Tom scowled at her decision. She was becoming too smart.'_Ah well,' _he though darkly, '_Time to squish that hope from her. Don't want her feeling safe with anyone but me. Hmm... ironic, eh?'_ he chuckled softly and walked over to Jessica and the adults. His polite smile settled on his face. It was the only one that he used when he talked to adults, he always had them trusting him in an instant._

"_Jessi! Jessi!" he laughed and ran the rest of the way over to her. The act was painfully annoying, but he wanted to make it look as real as possible, "Jessi! Come see, come see! I wanna show you my block tower!" He bounced up and down excitedly, and waved slightly to the adults at the table, groaning internally as he did so. _

_Jessica's eyes traveled from his head to his toes, and she started to shook her head no. She just did not want to play with Tom. Not now, not ever. One of their care takers noticed her shaking her head no, and frowned slightly._

"_Jessica, I think that's a wonderful idea. Go play with Tom, don't be mean." She cooed in a mother like tone, that Jessica winced at. She jumped off of the chair that she was sitting on and walked over to Tom, who reached for her hand, pulling her in the same fashion that she had done a year in advance. The action almost brought tears to the six year olds eyes, but she quickly sniffed them away._

_The duo entered the play room once again, and Tom still didn't let go of her hand, continuing to drag her to the door at the far end of the room. The door that lead to the playground on the outside. It had rained the day before and the toys were still wet, so no one was out there. That's exactly what Tom was aiming for. _

_Jessica noticed where they were heading and quickly put all her weight into her heels, stopping him before he could reach the door. Her voice came out in another shaky whisper, "You said.. a block tower, Tom.." He sighed gently, looking her straight in the eyes, countering the comment easily,_

"_Yes, Jessica, but I didn't say where I made the block tower. C'mon." he jerked her roughly, and with a turn of the door knob, they were outside. Alone. The girl shivered slightly in the cold but he either didn't notice or didn't care, ignoring the gesture all together._

"_I have to talk to you.." was the first sounds to break the silence , a tint of urgency soaked through to the surface of the words that Tom spoke. Jessica shrugged lightly, walking over to a swing set and brushed off the water from it and sat down. Swinging herself gently while watching Tom._

"_Well, do it then.." she muttered softly taking her eyes off of him. He raised an eyebrow but nevertheless continued with what he had to say..._

"Tom! Please..." she cringed, another painful sound broke the silence of the memory, "Please, Tom... I won't, I won't..." she whimpered out in between sobs. A tinge of annoyance was the only emotion that you could read on the boys face.

"Well if you won't," Tom commented, walking over to the girl and kneeling to pick her face up in his fingers. "Then stop interrupting our memories, Jessica. I'm enjoying this.. Or do I need to make you pass out, Hm?" Jessica's eyes widened, in pretend fright, and Tom's small expression turned to that of amusement. "Nice try.. I think I'm going to continue watching our memories." He raised his hand once again, this time yelling the word "Crucio!" Causing a wave of utter terror and pain wash over Jessica yet again, the girl welcomed the pain but still let out a futile scream. No one but Tom was there to hear her, and he marveled in that small fact. As soon as the pain started, it stopped, and he raised his wand a bit higher and they both were inside her memory once again. Back to their conversation.

"_Well Jessica.." He started out shuffling his weight to his other side as he talked. For some reason, Jessica noted, he was acting strange. This piqued her curiosity that had been concealed for so long._

"_Well?" She questioned, leaning towards him ever so slightly, enough to make it look like she was trying to swing herself higher.. Well. At least, if she was moving forward in her pendulum decent. A flash of amusement streaked across his face, but he quickly hid it once again._

"_I have a question for you." He said after a moment of thought, and he looked straight into her eyes, "And I want you to answer me honestly. 'kay?" His eyes bore into his and he didn't look away, he didn't even blink. Jessica nodded slowly and quickly looked away from his eyes. Considering how to ask the question he rubbed his chin with his pointer finger and thumb.._

"_When you're scared.." He started off, his eyes snapping back to hers trying to measure her reaction to his words, "Or.. Angry. Does anything weird happen to you?"_

With a scream of anger, Jessica broke the concentration that was involved with going through her mind yet again. "Stop it Tom Riddle, Stop it! This hurt" She cried this time, and couldn't stop. All the time's torture was getting to her. "Tom, please, I'll do anything.." She managed to sob, "Please.. pretty please... w..with sugar on top... a...and.. ice cream... in the middle..."

Another hint of annoyance danced across Tom's face at the all too bluntly obvious sign of immaturity he was just introduced to, thanks to his prisoner. He grinned lightly, crouching to her side yet again, having stood up sometime during the memory to a more comfortable position. "Well, Jessica when you offer me ice cream. . ." He started his grin turned into his old, half smile that she had saw him use when he talked to her Mum two years previous. "I can't help but to," He paused for a moment to give her hope, "Decline. I don't want your ruddy ice cream." And with that he raised his wand yet again, this time throwing another burst of his energy into the spell. He wasn't going to be over powered by a damned seven year old, no way in hell.

Jessica sobbed loudly again, that was her only hope. She never used the 'ice cream' ploy, unless she was out of ideas. She bit her lower lip the small notion sparked a flame in Tom's eyes.

"And now let's continue. This is getting good, Jessi." And he moved his wand back to her head, and the memories started flowing once again.

_Jessica stopped her swing in it's tracks, looking straight at Tom. His face remained unchanged and he made a small, 'What' gesture with his hands. As in the present Jessica, the memory Jessica bit her lip, not knowing how to respond. Tom sighed sensing her hesitation and walked over to her swiftly, picking up a rock and made it look as if he was going to hit her full in the head with the rock. As if on an in pulse Jessica raised her hands shielding her head and let out a scream. Tom stopped in his tracks about a foot from her, although she was grateful for him stopping, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he was grinning from ear to ear._

"_Well, you are special like me!" He exclaimed not trying to contain his grin any longer. He poked the air in front of him and his hand stopped very close to Jessica. When he poked it, his finger went back slightly as if he was poking something that was solid and invisible right in front of Jessica. Jessica pressed her hands in the same fashion directly in front of her and gasped when her hands touched an invisible wall. _

"_Di...did I do that?" she asked as her eyes widened. Tom nodded in response his grin getting ever wider._

"_I will teach you everything I know." He stated and tapped his hand over the 'wall' and it dissipated. He grabbed her hand, pulling her close to him, whispering softly in her ear at the same time. "The playground at 1 am tonight. Okay?" Tom pulled away from her ear and stared into her eyes once more. Jessica's eyes were still wide and she shook her head yes, still amazed by what she did._


	3. Can't I just kill you already?

**Hiya Readers!**

**Well from the lack of reviews, I don't know how many of you actually like this story! But, judging from the amount of people who keep yelling at me (As if they need to xD!) on MSN to continue this story, I'll take my silent readers and beg you to review! It makes me extremely happy. Much thanks to Se0127 for correcting my many spelling and grammatical errors. I honestly hope I'll get a Beta Soon, my friend promised.. Hm.. Gotta hit her up on that soon. :)**

**This story, is how I kind of .. Vent. I feel bad for poor Jessica in a way, because as my bad mood escalates in any way, so does the tortures that she receives from Tom. :P As do the memories that she starts to get, they become more... Traumatic to her in her altered state. Especially when she regrets every moment of them. Also, Sorry for how badly this chapter came out. I hate it. But, I can't get by it.. -.-; I have a _killer _case of the Writer's Blocks. : So.. I'll stop typing this huge author's note and actually give you what you want.**

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Chapter Three to, It All Started with a Flash.

_Jessica stopped her swing in it's tracks, looking straight at Tom. His face remained unchanged and he made a small, 'What' gesture with his hands. As in the present Jessica, the memory Jessica bit her lip, not knowing how to respond. Tom sighed sensing her hesitation and walked over to her swiftly, picking up a rock and made it look as if he was going to hit her full in the head with the rock. As if on an in pulse Jessica raised her hands shielding her head and let out a scream. Tom stopped in his tracks about a foot from her, although she was grateful for him stopping, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he was grinning from ear to ear._

"_Well, you are special like me!" He exclaimed not trying to contain his grin any longer. He poked the air in front of him and his hand stopped very close to Jessica. When he poked it, his finger went back slightly as if he was poking something that was solid and invisible right in front of Jessica. Jessica pressed her hands in the same fashion directly in front of her and gasped when her hands touched an invisible wall. _

"_Di...did I do that?" she asked as her eyes widened. Tom nodded in response his grin getting ever wider._

"_I will teach you everything I know." He stated and tapped his hand over the 'wall' and it dissipated. He grabbed her hand, pulling her close to him, whispering softly in her ear at the same time. "The playground at 1 am tonight. Okay?" Tom pulled away from her ear and stared into her eyes once more. Jessica's eyes were still wide and she shook her head yes, still amazed by what she did._

_That night, the two of them left their beds at about the same time, but arrived at the swing set at different times. Tom arriving first, as he had thought he would, greeting Jessica with the squeals from the chains of the swings as he swung back and forth. Although she was scared out of her mind for breaking curfew and oh so many rules by being out at this point and time, she felt.. okay doing so with Tom. _

_At the first sign of her entrance into the playground, Tom jumped up quickly and rushed over to the door. Shutting it silently behind her, as to not wake up the adults. Raising his pointer finger to his lips to tell her to stay quiet, he grabbed her hand and rushed off for behind the slide. The most unseen part of the playground. _

_Once there he sat down in an 'Indian style' and turned to look at his new... 'student.' "So.. do you know how to do _anything _already?" He asked, his voice sounded completely inquisitive. Jessica certainly wasn't used to this and yawned lightly, shaking her head no at the same time. "Hm.. Fine. This will be easy." and he jumped up, and took out his wand that he had taken out earlier._

"_What the heckskies is that, Tom?!" Jessica's question blurted itself out as soon as she thought it and a look of embarrassment flashed across her face. He grinned lightly, and explained what a wand was. Telling her that it was a magical instrument that his mother was said to have left for him at the last orphanage he had gone to. She had left it for him, as something for him to remember her by. _

"_Well, that's what the people there told me. I think she left it for me, so that I could learn the special powers she had learned." His face was curled up in a grin as Jessica shivered much like she had earlier that day. She was beginning to suspect that it wasn't the cold that was causing her to do so._

_--_

_A little while later, the two of them were sweaty and running around the playground. Well, more exactly, Jessica was running around. Tom was busy making a blue orb type thing appear in his hand, and watching himself careful as he did so, as to teach Jessica the correct way of doing it. Keeping special attention to the way his hand and body reacted to the even slight changes in the blue orb. He grinned, looking up at Jessica who had stopped in her tracks. Her line of vision staring straight at the door._

_Tom blinked once moving his hand so the orb would disappear quickly, and it did so, walking over to Jessica swiftly. He made a small face of annoyance as he saw one of the boys from his dorm staring at the two, a mischievous grin spread plainly on his face. The grin only spreading wider as he opened his mouth to yell for someone inside of the building. Tom quickly ran over to his side, catching his face in his hand, shielding his mouth and effectively stifling any means of a shout that the boy could manage. He pulled his hands towards him, dragging the boy by his face and allowing the door to shut noiselessly behind them. _

_Jessica watched the two of them before running back behind the slide, the boys joining her a short time later. Tom let go of the boy, throwing him to the ground quite hard. _

"_What are you doing out here, Keith?" Jessica managed to whisper, breaking the silence that had fallen over the trio. The third boy, who was barely a year younger then Tom shrugged lightly before rubbing his back, where he had landed against the slide._

"_I could ask yous the same question." Keith spat out, looking from one to the other, another grin running like lightning across his face. "What _are _you two doing out 'ere?" His voice raising slightly as he asked the question, "You boths know you can't be out here past 'leven," Keith paused, his voice held so much excitement. He was finally able to get Jessica and Tom in trouble, something that he had been trying to do for ages. _

"_Well, Keith, it doesn't matter to me if you tell on us or not," Tom stated, his eyes moving to Keith's eyes never wavering from their spot once they caught the other boy's sight with his. "Because even if you tell, you'll still get into trouble. You are out here as well." He grinned slightly and Keith quickly blinked, trying to escape from the blazing silver eyes that still bore into his own brown ones._

"_Fines. Just answer my question.. what are you twos doin' out here?" Keith rolled his eyes, thankfully free from Tom's patronizing gaze. Tom looked towards Jessica and she hesitated, thinking of how to answer him._

"_Tom was showing me how to..." she paused again, not wanting to tell him the truth, but not exactly wanting to lie either. She was stuck. Her mother had taught her never to lie.. Her.. Mother. The thought brought tears to her eyes and she quickly brushed them away with the sleeve of her pajamas. She grimaced, "He was showing me how to.. build a sandcastle.." she whispered the last part, echoing the exact words that she herself was trying to show Tom, on that dreadful night. Tom nodded turning his attention back over to Keith. _

"_Yep. A sandcastle.. She's so much better than I at it, and you guys keep stepping all over her other ones, so I asked her to come tonight to show me. Where you guys would be asleep." he lied, easily, looking back towards Jessica who had turned a little bit away from the two of them. Her hands to her eyes as a few tears glistened down her face. _

"Tom.." An abrupt sound pulled from the memory, the reason being only that it was shaky and weak. He wanted to see the poor sap who it belonged to. A grimace passed over his face for a split second, as he realized it belonged to Jessica. She was still sprawled on the floor, her blue eyes bore into his for the first time. "Tom," she repeated in the same tone, "Can.. we please.. stop for a bit.." she whispered. Her voice cracked even more in the soft tone. Tom felt a pang of regret but quickly stifled it, weakness. 'Weakness would not save the child now,' he thought to himself and coldly shook his head again. Raising his wand to her head, but as soon as he had done so, she let out a scream. The action made Tom blink, confused.

"I.. said.. break.." she whispered again, this time her voice didn't shake instead it sounded completely exhausted. "We.. can go back to them later.. I just need to sleep. Please.." she whispered again, shutting her eyes. Her hand reached out above her head as if it was searching for some comfort.

Tom stood up, regretfully and nodded. "Fine. Five minutes, rest up." And he walked quickly out of the cage, leaving the young girl to sleep.

--

When Tom left the cage, it shut with a clatter behind him, and allowed him to walk to his own quarters which was too close to her cage. Right across the room. 'I need to change that,' He thought to himself before opening his door and shutting it behind him with a soft snap.

--

As soon as Jessica was sure she heard the snap, she sat up. Her muscles in her body screamed in protest but she needed to sit up, it was hurting her much more to show so much weakness around Tom. But she needed to sort everything out.. She needed a way to get out of here.

Regretfully, she stood up swaying on her jelly like legs uneasily. Biting her lower lip, she walked over to the door of the cage, it barely making a squeak but of course..

..He heard it.

Tom slammed open his door, grabbing his wand and pointing it at her. "You little witch!" he yelled flicking his wand towards her yelling, "Stupefy," at the same time. The spell sent a red blob of color towards her, stunning her in her tracks. He grimaced at the girl, walking around her pondering what he should do to her. His wand tapped her as he went around, causing green sparks to come out of the tip. The sparks were as painful as they were amazing, if Jessica was able to talk she'd be screaming.

"You _dare _try and run away, Jessica? Do you _now _understand why I can't leave you alone? Why you can't be let go?" He paused, raising his wand once again at Jessica, this time to her face, directly above her eyes. "I do not, nor will I ever, trust you Bentley. You prove my assumption of you right, every time you pull something like this." Tom dropped his wand and turned on his heels and walked towards the door of the cage once more, resting his hand against the door frame. "And to think, tomorrow is the third anniversary of your Mum's death. I was going to let you go to her grave too," he grinned lightly and flicked his wand at her again, unfreezing her from the stunning spell. "Crucio." he hissed out, barely audible at the instant screams projected from Jessica's mouth.

Jessica struggled against the curse biting her lower lip until she tasted the copper-flavor of blood. She shut her eyes, forcing her mouth to stay shut only small groans of protest protruded from her barricade. Tom scowled, narrowing his eyes at Jessica. "Why don't I just kill you already?" He murmured to himself, and then shook his head, slamming the door of the cage hard, it locked automatically with a click. Almost at the same time, Tom's door slammed shut.


End file.
